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You know that ROI sell that everyone's harping on? Well, it works for municipalities, too.

As budgets tighten across the country, cities and towns increasingly are loathe to pay for graffiti clean up, as are local merchants. Check this story for a dose of Christmas spirt. Just as the local business district gears up for a big weekend of shopping, here come a bunch of idiots to make the place look extra uninviting.
But your opportunity lies in this great quote:
"This goes back to us being strongly in favor of cameras," Sedwick said.
How much does it cost to clean up graffiti? How much does the camera system cost? Where does one cancel the other out?
This insurance company sees the trade-off as being solidly in its favor. If you make the pitch to your local city/town council, logic says they'll see the trade-off as a positive one, too.

Wow. This just came over the wire. I'll have some more for you on the newswire:
Boost for Security Systems division: Bosch plans acquisition of Extreme CCTV
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Extreme CCTV is a technology leader in active infrared illuminators, demanding environment cameras and license plate capture systems
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Publicly listed Extreme CCTV Inc. employs approximately 130 associates
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Bosch is offering 5.00 Canadian dollars per share
Stuttgart Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Bosch is planning to acquire all shares of Extreme CCTV Inc., headquartered in Burnaby, Canada. With this acquisition, Bosch intends to boost its Security Systems division and extend its activities in video surveillance. Bosch is offering the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s stockholders 5.00 Canadian dollars per share in cash. The stockholders of Extreme CCTV include private and institutional investors as well as the company management. The expected transaction volume is some 93 million Canadian dollars (approximately 62 million euros). The transaction is subject to approval by the authorities and is expected to close in February 2008.
Extreme CCTV is a technologically leading manufacturer and supplier of active infrared illuminators for high performance imaging in dark conditions and when visibility is poor, as well as video surveillance products for use in all kinds of extreme environmental conditions including heat, cold, and darkness. Furthermore, its product range includes systems for license-plate capture.
In 2006, the company and its 130 associates worldwide generated sales of some 27 million Canadian dollars (approximately 19 million euros). Extreme CCTV has locations in Burnaby (Canada), Newcastle (U.K.), Church Cookham (U.K.), and Barbados. The company has three well-known brands: Extreme, Forward Vision, and Derwent.
Ã¢â‚¬Å“In acquiring Extreme CCTV, we want to extend our leading position in the fast growing video-surveillance market,Ã¢â‚¬Â said Uwe Glock, president of the Bosch Security Systems division. Ã¢â‚¬Å“The companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s innovative technologies will expand our product portfolio and strengthen our presence in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K,Ã¢â‚¬Â Glock said.
Not a gigantic buy, but substantial, and another sign of the market's continuing consolidation. The big boys will eventually control much more of the market than they do now.

MMI, the activist hedge fund that wants BrinkÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s to spin off one of its divisions, sent a holiday-season missive offering its help to Monitor Group, the firm hired by Brink's in November to evaluate "various strategic options available to the company."
In a letter to Monitor Group managing partners Steve Jennings and Bob Lurie, MMIÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Clay Lifflander says his company has spent four years Ã¢â‚¬Å“scrutinizing BrinkÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s chronic undervaluation and attempting to unlock the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s significant intrinsic value through the encouragement of strategic alternatives.Ã¢â‚¬Â
He says Monitor would Ã¢â‚¬Å“benefit from our experience and insights on these issues and would appreciate the opportunity to communicate with your team directly.Ã¢â‚¬Â
Lifflander told me today that he's yet to hear back from Monitor, but it's a busy time of the year, and they've probably got to check with legal and Brink's too, so maybe next week. "One of the things IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve heard about Monitor is that theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re very independent. If they really are independent then theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll want all touch points possible included in their deliberationÃ¢â‚¬Â¦that leads me to think that they might want to talk,Ã¢â‚¬Â he said. To read the letter, check out MMIÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Dec. 12 SEC filing.
On a different topic, I posted a blog recently about MMI obtaining a stake in another home security giant, Protection One. In that I noted that MMI only owned about 80,000 shares of P1, and even though that's only about .32 percent of shares outstanding, it still earned MCM (which owns MMI) a spot (#10) on the Yahoo Finance list of P1Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s top ten Ã¢â‚¬Å“Institutional Holders.Ã¢â‚¬Â
"Not any more," Lifflander said today.
Lifflander pointed out to me that the recent SEC filing represented MMI's position as of September. Since that time, Lifflander said he's sold a bunch of P1 stock, and now only owns about $500,000 in P1 stock. He said he really likes P1 and thinks highly of Protection One's CEO Richard Ginsburg, but decided "we need to concentrate on Brink's right now."

This industry could learn a little something from my mother, whose answer to any complaint I had as a kid was, Ã¢â‚¬Å“Go outside and run around, youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll feel better.Ã¢â‚¬Â And if you were looking for something fun to do, her advice was: Ã¢â‚¬Å“Go outside and run around.Ã¢â‚¬Â
IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m reminded of this because of this notice from SIA that just popped into my inbox. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s about an ISC West event, a motorcycle/car ride to benefit education for first responders. Now, SIAÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a great organization and IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m all behind any event that supports education. I can even imagine having fun riding a motorcycle through the Nevada mountains.
That said, I would be so very happy if this industry could ever hold an outdoor event where people actually got some exercise. How about a road race? A walk? Some skiing? A hike through those beautiful Nevada mountains?
Anyone?
Just donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t tell me that golf is exercise (an exercise in frustration maybe)

Is it a case of a state senator extorting an alarm company? or an attorney showboating for Alberto Gonzalez? Or a little of both?
The trial of Iowa state senator Matt McCoy is expected to resume today after being postponed because of snow yesterday.
The Feds say McCoyÃ¢â‚¬â€who was nabbed by a government informantÃ¢â‚¬â€extorted $2,000 from Reid Shultz, owner of alarm company Security Plus.
This particular story doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t mention it, but Iowa Dems say the indictment is politically motivated. HereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s our October story with background. You see, this indictment was handed down in March, right around the time Alberto Gonzalez was engaged in a firing-fest, taking down U.S. attorneys who didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t indict enough Democrats in their states.
Iowa Democrats say that this is a case of one Iowa U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker, a social conservative with his own political aspirationsÃ¢â‚¬â€showing his partisan toughness for Gonzalez to see. They say he used questionable methods to collect evidence. TheyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re standing behind McCoy in this case. McCoyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s had trouble with conservative colleagues before. McCoy is an openly gay man who had his sexual orientation revealed by a Republican colleague in 2003.

In a time of tragedy, it might feel unseemly to talk about business opportunity, but churches are crying out for security help following this week's shootings. This is an opportunity to reach out to your local community leaders and talk about the real benefits that security technology can offer.

Note that in the article I'm linking to here, almost all the discussion is about hiring guards. Make sure you're a part of the discussion, too. It's in your self-interest, sure. But all of us know that the security industry can offer very real benefits that both supplement and go beyond what guards can do to protect people. Now is the time to reach out - to your local papers, your local places of worship, your local community gathering places.

Guess MMI likes the security industry.
MMI is one of the activist hedge funds thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s been pestering The BrinkÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Company to sell one of its divisions for months. Now itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s acquired Ã¢â‚¬Å“a small stake in Protection OneÃ¢â‚¬Â according to this story from Barron's. (Check out the last line in the Ã¢â‚¬Å“Activist SpotlightÃ¢â‚¬Â section.)
Used to be that P1 was almost like a privately held company with Quadrangle owning almost all of its shares. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s changed since the merger with IASG: Quadrangle is still the largest stockholder, but its share is now about 23 percent according to Yahoo Finance.
According to its most recent SEC filing on holdings, MMI (which is part of MCM Capital Management) owns about 80,000 shares of P1. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s only about .32 percent of shares outstanding, but it still earns MCM a spot (#10) on the Yahoo Finance list of P1Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s top ten Ã¢â‚¬Å“Institutional Holders.Ã¢â‚¬Â

Very close to a good story by Jason Knott in CE Pro today. As the new-build market has fallen apart and lies in shambles, a number of integrators and alarm guys who depended on that market for new business are struggling. Knott does a nice enterprise story by wondering if that isn't a good thing in the long run, citing integrators who've had bad experiences with program builders and other who don't like the margins in the new build market.
That's actually confirmation of what I found in looking into the financial markets for a special report that will land in January. Gail Scannell at U.S. Bank told me that with "that whole builder segment, it's always been tough for them to do that profitably. That's always something that we have kept an eye on: what percent of new revenues is associated with builder programs."
However, I'm disappointed that Knott didn't get a single integrator on the record with a single gripe. I can understand not wanting to attribute the phrase, "They're all scum bags," but couldn't he get a single integrator to talk on the record about why he or she prefers the retrofit market?
And this paragraph is troubling:
As one integrator described it: Ã¢â‚¬Å“Whenever I get frustrated dealing with large builders, I remember that most of the guys I deal with at these companies donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even have high school educations. So, you canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t present them with logical solutions and expect them to understand.Ã¢â‚¬Â
That's mudslinging, and not the sort of situation I would use to protect a source. If somone wants to disparage an entire industry, he should have the balls to attach his name to it.
I think Jason is a good reporter and I like that Jason offers the caveat wondering if that's "sour grapes," but I think not finding a quotable source for this story was a bad decision.

In one of those stories that would seem like an April Fool's prank if it wasn't so easy to believe, Wired has a story today about the new "pain beam," which uses microwaves to zap people and cause their flesh to scream out with burning pain. They're talking about using it on the battlefield, to quell riots, and, you know, for residential home security.
Check the story's lead:
Burglars break into an apartment, hoping to pick up some expensive electronics or jewelry. But they're out again, empty-handed, within seconds, howling with pain and surprise. They've been driven back by waves of intolerable heat: Entering the apartment is like stepping into a furnace. It's the Active Denial System, or ADS, at work, the ultimate in home protection ... among other uses.
Yeah, well, better hope your teenager doesn't try to sneak into the house in the middle of the night. He'd get some surprise! And just think what happens when you key in the wrong passcode! Yizz-ow!
Here's how Raytheon sees using it in commercial/industrial settings:
In one implementation, beam projectors are "located on the ceiling, at an angle, behind wall panels," and a series of metallic reflectors, also concealed, ensure that the beam covers the whole room. "In some embodiments, the energy may be directed to protect an item at one or more particular locations," the patent reads. "In these embodiments, systems may be used to guard a valuable item such as jewelry, weapons, or works or art.
Luckily, these things still cost millions of dollars. I'm not sure I'm ready for residential pain beams.